by Eliza Taye
Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I strived to contain the panic I felt rising in my chest. There had to be some sort of way to search for where Dr. Wilcox lived. Maybe Oceania had some type of search engine for addresses analogous to the street databases we had on land. If I could just find something like that here, I could do a search for his home address. I concentrated on the many pathways I’d walked on with Dylan in Oceania, wishing for the umpteenth time in my life that I had a photographic memory. Nothing popped out in my mind, so I opened my eyes.
First, I had to get myself out of the gardens, which was a lot easier than trying to remember where a potential database could be. Trudging through the dirt and underbrush, I followed the blue signs scattered on silver poles throughout the gardens indicating the exit with bright red letters. Winding through the dense forest for several minutes, I finally found my way onto the bustling walkways of downtown Oceania. A train whizzed past, bringing me out of the stupor that I didn’t realize I was in.
After the last train car passed by allowing me to cross, I found myself on one of the pathways edging around the Central District area. Diverting towards another path that, I knew would lead me further into Central, I scoured every direction for anything resembling a search panel. High-rises began to crowd in around me as I traveled closer to the epicenter of Central.
Blinking lights lined in a row on the ground caused me to pause. I’d become accustomed to knowing that they outlined the pathway of an oncoming train and I needed to stay clear. Shields rose outside the area of the train to keep pedestrians from accidentally being run over, and as the train whizzed past, they lowered, and I resumed my search.
Twisting around to my right, I wound through the throngs of people to get a better look around. The pathway forked into two different directions: one even deeper into the heart of Central and the other towards the main residential sector. There wasn't much on this street, or the opposite one, so I took a guess and decided to go right. I walked about two blocks before I saw something on the side of a building resembling an S.I.N.D. (or search information near downtown) panel. Brushing my fingertips across the panel's touchscreen, a window came up asking for my login.
"Ugh," I cried aloud as I smacked the touchscreen panel. Why did Dylan have to leave me alone with no instructions on how to find Dr. Wilcox or how to get back to the surface? It was all so frustrating!
I spun around and faced the street. People continued to walk by and ignore me as if I was any other person in Oceania. As different as Oceania was in every other aspect, it still garnered the apathetic populous of any metropolis. I sighed. Nobody here was going to help me. My best bet was to get on the train and ride it until my memory was jogged. Luckily, it was the only place I knew of in Oceania where a code wasn't needed to access it. Not to mention that it was free.
Keeping my distance, I found a line of blinking lights on the ground and followed it until I reached a train station. Finding a seat as far away from other people as possible, I gloomily plopped down on the bench at the station. Sighing, I bent forward, resting my chin on my right fist.
Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long before a train came whizzing to a stop in front of my bench. As soon as the train purred to a stop, a flood of people got off. I patiently waited for them to exit, and then boarded. I found a place to sit all alone near the front of the car. The doors slid closed and the train hummed as it swiftly left the station behind.
I tried not to panic as I watched the buildings whisk past me. What would happen if I couldn’t get home in time? Gran would surely call the police…and how could I truly explain to her where I was?
“Dearie, are you okay?”
“Um, yes…why do you ask?” I peered over in the direction of the voice. An old woman with curly, silver hair sat on the bench across from me hunched forward over her purse. She clutched it in her shaking hands as if it were the only thing helping to keep her upright.
“Well, you just seemed so melancholy. I noticed your eyes beginning to tear up.”
I quickly reached my left hand up to wipe my left eye and then my right. “Oh, I merely…”
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Deep-set mahogany eyes stared back at me with great concern. Her eyes radiated warmth and kindness. She reminded me of Gran.
“Well,” I wasn’t sure about how much to divulge, but maybe she could help me, “I’m sort of lost. I’m looking for a friend’s house and I can’t exactly remember where it is.”
“Did you search their name on the public database?”
And there it was. Something I was afraid of. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth. Now how was I going to explain that I couldn’t access the public database because I’m a Land Dweller, not a citizen of Oceania?
A sympathetic smile crossed the woman’s face as smile lines replaced wrinkles of worry. “Ah, I don’t like those things very much anyway. It’s hard for me to see those screens with my eyes the way they are now. My daughter keeps telling me to get surgery on them, but I simply don’t trust those robotic surgeons. What is your friend’s name?”
I raised my downcast face as hope flooded into my eyes. “His name is Dr. Samuel Wilcox. I know he lives on the other side of the Central District, but I simply can’t remember exactly where.”
“Is he an engineer by chance?”
My eyes grew wider involuntarily. “Yes, he is.”
“Oh, yes, I know him. He’s quite the character, but he’s the Chief Engineering Inventor of the city.”
Before I knew it, lies were flying out of my mouth faster than I could comprehend them. “Yeah, he is. He’s a family friend of ours. He told me he was too busy to leave his home, so I should come over to his apartment to do the interview for my high school project. The expert’s input portion for my research paper is supposed to be completed this summer, so I was worried that if I didn’t do the interview when he had time, I wouldn’t get another chance.”
“No problem, dear.” The train car stopped as the woman spoke. “If you get off right here at this stop, you’ll need to go three blocks to the north,” she pointed directly behind her, “and then four blocks over to the east. His apartment building should be one from the corner. Good luck with your interview.”
“Thank you so much, ma’am. I really appreciate it.” I threw a quick smile at her and rushed out of the train car just as the doors began squeezing shut.
“Okay, three blocks north, four blocks east.” I continually repeated aloud so I wouldn’t forget it.
As the train left the stop, I trudged across the non-existent tracks and began my way north. Ignoring the commotion around me, I pressed on without caring if I was being watched. I only wanted to focus on how many of the three blocks north I had walked. Many of the apartment buildings were identical and I didn’t want to get lost because of lackadaisical attention. However, deep down, a small voice kept telling me that if the Master Coders had caught Dylan, perhaps I was in danger too. I had to stay focused, I couldn’t risk stopping to ask someone else directions. Luckily, the old woman was kind and uninterested in me personally.
The numbers of people around me thinned until I was the only one around, my footsteps echoing loudly as I hurried along. Finally, Dr. Wilcox’s apartment building came into view as I crossed onto the last block. Immediately, I descended the long staircase down to his workshop, but found the door closed and locked. Hesitantly, I headed back upstairs and through the main doors to the apartment building. The vacant reception hall was elaborately decorated with real paintings and plants instead of mere projections. A string of three elevators stood to the left of the reception desk along with a list of apartments. Tapping on the screen to make it come to life, I saw only one listed apartment—Dr. Samuel Wilcox, Apartment #2.
Noticing a hallway at the opposite end of the reception desk, I took it around a bend until I saw the apartment number two on the door. I rang the doorbell and chimes went off inside. A panel to the right side of the door opened up and a bla
nk screen popped out with Dr. Wilcox’s voice emanating from the speaker right below it.
“Who is it? I’m very busy working on a very important new invention that could change the future of Oceania!”
I cleared my throat and apprehensively said, “Dr. Wilcox, it’s Allie, I’m Dylan’s friend.” When I heard no reply, I added, “The Land Dweller.”
The screen turned on and Dr. Wilcox’s face appeared. “Ah, Allie, come right on in.” A toothy grin and balding gray hair filled the screen.
After the door clicked unlocked, I yanked it open and began walking down the yellow-painted short hall toward what I assumed was the living room. Suddenly, Dr. Wilcox appeared inconspicuously from my left.
“Ah, Allie, over here. So, what brings you to my humble dwelling?”
“Dylan was caught by someone named Mrs. Miller and taken to the Master Coders. It seemed really serious. Because Dylan was my way out of here, I need help to return to the surface. Dylan told me to find you and you would be able to find me a way out of Oceania. If I’m not home before my grandmother starts to worry, she’ll call the police and we’ll have a big problem.”
Dr. Wilcox’s bushy eyebrows shot up as his eyes grew wide. “Dylan was taken to the Master Coders? Oh, no, this isn’t good. This isn’t good at all. Dylan is in really big trouble…and you could be too.”
I had figured as much. I knew we might be going down this road. “Why?”
“I think the Master Coders must have noticed Dylan’s frequent double visits to the docking bay, and it must have been a red flag. As a marine science student researcher, he has permission to visit the surface once a day, not two. At this time, we have to hope they do not know anything about you. Dylan is a really smart boy, and he is also loyal. He would never rat out a friend. He won’t reveal the fact you’ve been visiting here for weeks.”
“So, how could I be in big trouble?”
“It may be very hard for you to get out of here. Visits to the surface are strictly regulated and I hardly ever leave the city, so it will be an automatic red flag if I enter my code into the docking bay. It would be even worse if I checked out a seamobile and I was gone for hours. I cannot take you to the surface.”
Inside panic chipped away at me like chunks of ice cracking away from a glacier. I swallowed hard and fought back. “So, how do I escape?”
“You’re going to have to get out of here on your own power, Allie.”
“Huh?” I stared at Dr. Wilcox with narrowed eyes and a confused expression.
“There is this extraordinary undersea device that I have been working on for over a decade now. It is finally near completion, but I haven’t quite had it tested yet. It’s a very sophisticated diving suit meant for a single person. It’s taken me years to develop a material that is durable, pliable, breathable, yet as sturdy as a titanium alloy. Not to mention dealing with the issue of toxicity of breathing compressed air and the low amount of dissolved oxygen in the water at this depth. So I had to figure out the oxygen permeability of the suit and a way to diffuse oxygen from the water itself through the suit. Finally, I discovered a material that will not only allow oxygen to seep through the suit while barring other gases or liquids, but also have a high affinity for oxygen. The material has the capability to withstand immense pressure as well as deflect any sound waves or electrical pulses sent at it, effectively making the wearer invisible. Not to mention that I added a chameleon feature that allows the suit to change colors to match the environment. It has a helmet equipped with a GPS and a fully functioning A.I. It also has the capability to withstand immense pressure. If my calculations are correct, it can even possibly withstand the pressure that is twice that at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Plus, I’ve recently added a jet propulsion device with adjustable speed levels that can be clipped onto the back of the suit.”
“That sounds like an interesting device.” I could sense where this conversation was going, and I really, really, didn’t like it.
“Yes, it will be a phenomenal advancement. I call my invention the SCUBAPS, which stands for ‘self-contained underwater breathing and anti-pressure suit.’ We already have high-pressure suits and devices to extract oxygen from the water, but not both in one material. So my SCUBAPS is certainly one of a kind.”
“And you are telling me this because…” I hated myself for starting the prompt to the answer that was sure to lead me to the new backdrop of my future nightmares.
“Because you’re going to have to use it to escape Oceania.”
Chapter 11
The person staring back in the mirror at me was unrecognizable. The SCUBAPS, which Dr. Wilcox kept explaining to me, was pronounced “scoo-bops” after I’d mispronounced it about a billion times, had a black outer covering like any other diving suit. The overall thing weighed only thirty pounds, but that didn’t account for the propulsion device Dr. Wilcox said added about fifteen more pounds.
Getting the suit on was a lot easier than I had anticipated. The material glided across my skin like soft silk. The outer covering mimicked the smoothness of a fish’s scales and resembled one in the microscopic overlapping layers of the outer skin. Once pulled up to my neckline, it immediately snapped skin-tight around my body, covering me almost completely from head to toe. The suit extended all the way around the tips of my fingers and thickened in that region like a glove. Both my feet were enclosed in denser material as well, acting like a woolen sock. Unlike most diving suits, the zipper went down the front, but the teeth of the zipper actually merged into part of the suit itself, leaving only a small pull-tab remaining at the neckline.
As I twisted and turned in the mirror, the surface glistened like the scales of a jack fish. Seeing my reflection in the mirror, I felt very uncomfortable with its tight appearance. Gran would kill me if she witnessed me wearing something so tight.
“Are you done changing, Allie?” asked Dr. Wilcox from the other side of the bathroom door.
“Yes, I think so,” I answered. Twirling around slowly and craning my neck, I attempted to see where exactly on my suit the jet propulsion device would attach.
“Well, then it's best if you hurry up, you don’t want to keep your grandmother waiting for too long.”
I knew Dr. Wilcox was right, but I was fighting to control the battle raging inside me. Half of me was terrified that a malfunction in the SCUBAPS would cause me to die alone, crushed to death at the bottom of the ocean. The other half of me attempted to override my fear with sheer excitement. I’d be the first person to explore the ocean depths without a submersible at 12,000 feet!
Still, the fear constantly gave me reasons as to why I was crazy. If the material didn’t hold up to the pressure, I’d be crushed. If the oxygen permeable membrane of the suit failed, I’d suffocate. If the GPS malfunctioned, I’d be lost and probably die of exhaustion or dehydration. If the propulsion device stopped working, I might be too exhausted to make it to the surface. If the color camouflage system failed, I’d be bait for sharks, squid, or any other predators out there. Images of giant angler fish, megalodons, and ancient dinosaurs like liopleurodons flashed through my head. What if any of those creatures still existed in the deep oceans, yet to be rediscovered?
“Allie?” Dr. Wilcox’s voice interrupted my inner turmoil.
“I’m coming out.” Sucking in air through my nostrils and breathing out through my mouth, I nodded once confidently back at the person in the mirror, turned, and opened the door to the bathroom.
“Ah, it looks wonderful on you, Allie. The suit fits nicely. It doesn’t appear to be too snug or too loose. Does it feel fine to you?”
I nodded.
“Excellent. Put your normal clothes over the suit so you won’t stick out so much. I’ll get the propulsion device and diving helmet for you. We best leave as soon as possible.”
“What about my clothes? How will I take them with me?”
“Ah, well, I have also designed a tiny pack that can attach to the suit to carry belongings.” Dr.
Wilcox tilted his head to the side and chuckled. “Unlike the suit, it’s already been thoroughly tested. I can put your clothes into a shrink bag and then they’ll easily fit.”
I nodded and went back into the bathroom to retrieve the clothes Dylan had bought me a few weeks ago to blend in with the Oceanians. The cloudy gray shirt and matching pants decorated with laser blue lines covered almost all of the SCUBAPS except for the neckline. Tucking the edges around my neck as far as they would go beneath my top, I informed Dr. Wilcox I was ready to go.
As we exited the apartment building, Dr. Wilcox stuck his head out of the entrance doors and whipped it to the left and right rapidly. “Okay, it looks like the coast is clear.” He began waving his hands quickly for me to follow him. “We need to take the less traveled route to the docking bay. If the Master Coders do know about you, they’ll be searching every major pathway out of the city.”
“How long will the other route take us?”
“Well, fortunately, the trains travel throughout the entire city, not just the most populated areas. Therefore, there will be some trains going around in the deserted areas of the city, although they run a lot less often.” Dr. Wilcox pulled out his c-com and started typing on the projected keyboard. “Ah, so the next train will be passing by in about three minutes.”
“Where do we get on?”
Dr. Wilcox began jogging down the side street nearest to his building. “Well, that particular train is going to appear at a station that is about a ten-minute walk from here. We need to get moving. Are you a good runner, Allie?”
I laughed. “Oh yeah, I am! I was the star of my middle school’s virtual cross country team.”
“That’s great, so I might be lagging behind a bit,” Dr. Wilcox started in perfect form.
“Don’t worry, Dr. Wilcox, we’ll both make it.” I jogged in line with Dr. Wilcox, thankful that the environment in Oceania was always at an equilibrium when it came to temperature. It never seemed to feel too hot or too cold.